When the Wells family comes fishing with you, you had better get ready to have some fun. Alex, Max, Austin and Zack brought their parents with them today to show them how they can catch fish. Austin (10) caught a 22 lb Red Snapper on the first reef this morning. Wow! Everyone caught an amberjack today but we had to release most of them because they were too small to keep. We really had fun fishing with my friends who have fished with us for the past four years. I have had the pleasure of watching these boys grow, mature and catch fish since they were just 6 years old. Boy can they fish. Laughter was heard all day long. This is why I love my job! Good job guys. Be sure to check out their video on youtube on our website.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/17/2008

Sheldon from near Austin, Tx. brought his mom and dad on an 8 hour family deep sea fishing trip today. I have had kids drive the boat on a daily basis. Today was an extraordinary day fishing. The bite was slow at first until that sun went down a bit. The seas were a little choppy with an East wind but we managed to catch some nice Red Snapper and a couple of King Mackerel. Don and Shelley sat back today and watched Sheldon catch some nice big fish. Sheldon came upstairs on the way in and asked could he drive the boat. For over 25 miles, the autopilot was off but I could not tell it. Sheldon kept the boat on heading and steered us all the way home. Sheldon is a natural young captain. I bet someday he will be running his own boat. You know, Orange Beach is family oriented. It's days like this that make my day special. Seeing kids with their parents catching fish and building memories. I really enjoy watching a family have fun and catch a few fish.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/16/2008

The Hunter family from Tulsa, Ok. came all the way to Orange Beach for a family vacation. Joel and Karen brought Ryan, Bryant, Rachel and Jonathan out on a light tackle deep sea fishing trip. Today was a six hour trip. The weather was overcast and the water temperature was 7 degrees lower than the previous day. We pulled up on a few spots and the Red Snapper greeted us on top of the water. We kept fishing with our light tackle and Rachel caught a big Cobia right behind the boat. It weighed 31 lbs. Her boyfriend Jonathan caught a monster 18 pound red snapper just after that. It seemed that the big snapper were going to bite all afternoon. We returned to Orange Beach with some exhausted customers. Catching so many fish was overwhelming. We really enjoy watching family members interact with each other. Smiling, Laughing and just a great time is what they got today along with a great fish bite.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/14/2008

Executive retreats are great for all corporations. Today was a wonderful day. Ken, for the third time this year brought his key corporate management team for a deep sea fishing trip off Orange Beach. Ken brought his son Clay along with him. He also had his key executive decision managers like Danny, Justin, Allen and Duane. Everyone of these guys had a chance to fight and catch a lot of nice fish today. Yes, we did lose two monsters that we will never know what they were. One thing for sure, these executives and corporate managers sure have some great memories about their day fishing on Distraction. We had no problem catching Red Snapper. The White Snapper bit like crazy. The Amberjack were a little slower, but when we got a bite, it almost pulled the arms off the anglers. We had fun and laughed at all these guys fighting fish all day. We look forward to the day when Ken's men all get to come back and spend another day with us.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/13/2008

What would you do if you were fishing for Red Snapper and something big bit your bait? Well, Kirk was fishing over the reef when something big hit his light tackle and started pulling. It did not pull like an Amberjack or a Grouper. It did not pull like a shark. Well, it pulled like a state record Red Snapper. Boy we were wrong. Kirk fought the monster fish for almost 25 minutes and when it surfaced, it was a large Jack Crevalle. We call them "Alabama Yellowfin." Do not confuse it with Yellowfin Tuna. It has a yellow fin and it fights harder than any other fish in shallow water. Pound for pound, they are tougher than most species we catch.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/11/2008

Jim Hogan has been fishing with me since my first year in the business. Jim started bringing his two sons Chris and Steven when they were 11 and 12 years old. They are now 17 and 18. Jim believes believes in building memories with his kids just as his dad did with him. Over the years Jim added Connor, Michael and this year we got to meet Matthew. It is a delight when we get to watch a family come together year after year and spend time fishing together. I believe that Orange Beach, Alabama offers some of the best family fishing along the Gulf Coast. Today was great. We caught and released over 30 amberjacks and bunches of snapper. We only harvested a few for dinner. The fight was incredible. Those kids caught fish almost every drop. A couple of times today, we had hundreds of red snapper and black snapper swimming around the boat. What an exciting day with a long time friend and his family.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/10/2008

Kevin and his family headed out today for 10 hours. We fished South of Orange Beach some 30 miles. We caught amberjack, red snapper and one monster Black (mangrove) Snapper. Kevin knew it was a big one when it hit. We thought it was another Amberjack. When it broke the surface, we were all surprised to see such a big mangrove snapper. We knew it would be close to the Alabama State Record. We brought it in and we missed it by just one pound. It is still a trophy size black snapper. Kelly, Ryan and Dustin all had a great time today catching fish.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/9/2008

Mark took a break from flying Boeing 757's today to bring his two sons on a four hour trip. We had Brice and Hunter onboard to enjoy the late afternoon trip. We started trolling out about 4 pm and there was not a great bite at all. We kept pulling our trolling lures and heading South. We had one reel get slammed and then another. Brice reeled up and when the big Bull Red almost got to the boat, the hook bent out and the big bull red got away. Well, we kept moving out. We picke up a few kings and some of them were smaller and we released them. We made our turn with the evening sun and started heading North. I was watching my sonar and ran over a school of big red dots or echo's. I told Lem to watch this! Just about that time, two rods were hit so hard they broke the lines and took all our tackle with them. At that time, the other two rods we had out trolling with got slammed. Brice grabbed one and his father Mark grabbed the other. The first fish was Brice's. He had caught and landed a nice Bull Red. Mark was on the other side of the boat getting beat to death by the tugging sea monster. We thought if this is a red fish, it was going to be a record. We got it up to the boat and we netted a nice Jack Crevalle. With sweat dripping from his head, Mark sat down for a rest. His forearms were a aching and he was physically exhausted from the fun fight. No matter what ever happens, Mark, Brice and Hunter have shared a father and son experience that will last a lifetime. This trip will be forever etched into their memory.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/3/2008

Tom, Kevin and John caught a nice mess of fish on today's 6 hour deep sea red snapper trip. We caught a lot of red snapper and we had the excitement of watching Tom bring up a monster fish (we thought)? It was pulling hard. Tom kept reeling and all of a sudden, the red snapper was coming up on the hook with no body. We all saw just the head on a hook when a monster bull shark came all the way up and almost hit the boat trying to get the snapper head back. Tom had hooked a red snapper and a bull shark had eaten it. This was the most spectacular sight. The monster shark was on top of the water coming at the boat. Imagine seeing that! The shark must have been 300 lbs and 8 foot in lenght. We did not have a camera ready because we were not expecting to see a bull shark attack. One thing for sure, we all have a memory that will never go away. Beautiful, amazing and a one of a kind experience!

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/2/2008

Brian is no stranger to catching big fish. He loves to fish for those fighting amberjacks. We headed South today to try and get out to an area that has been known to produce some nice jacks. We rode for 3 hours and about 3 miles before we got to where we wanted to fish, we ran into a major thunderstorm that went from East to West for over 20 miles with lightning. Well, we made a right turn to avoid the storm. We fished several spots and only caught red snapper and vermilion snapper. As usual, the bite slowed about 11 am but picked up again around 2 pm. We finally made some amberjacks bite but they were smaller 24 to 26 inches. We can only keep 28" and larger. Well, Lem pulled a trick out of the had and sent Brian down and goodness gracious, wham!!! A nice 33 inch amberjack was caught. We caught and released quite a few more and caught another legal jack to take to the house. We sure enjoy watching Brian fight those amberjack on light tackle.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/30/2008

Corporate fishing is fast becoming the preferred way to go deep sea fishing in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Today's corporate deep sea fishing trip is one of many that James, Terry, Mike, Tim and Mark are taking with us this year. We really appreciate having these guys on our boat fishing for a day. We headed out this morning with fairly calm seas. We fished several reefs and had some luck with white snapper, red snapper and vermilion snapper. The bite slowed way down by 11 am and was that way until about 2 pm. I guess the dog days of summer are upon us. We kept fishing hard and finally got some scamp grouper and amberjack to bite. It was not easy but we worked hard. It was a real pleasure to watch all these corporate guys catch some fish and have some fun.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/29/2008

Heath called me the first part of May wanting to book a fishing trip with his friends. We finally got a chance to meet today. Heath, Adam, Chris and Courtney all went out on an 8 hour trip. We caught nice red snapper all day long. On the way in, we picked up a few king mackerel. The weather was beautiful and the fish were hungry. It's a pleasure to meet new people. Especially when you find out that Courtney's dad was a first cousin to my old brother-in-law. Small world. Wonderful people.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/28/2008

You could not have asked for a more beautiful day than today. Almost calm seas, gentle breeze and a few clouds and rain showers in the distance. Larry booked this family fishing trip a while back. He told me he wanted to bring his family down to Orange Beach to do a full day of deep sea fishing. Scott, Ashley, Kelleigh and Michael all went on this adventure. We started the morning by fishing for hard tails for bait. We caught a few and began heading offshore. We were going to try and get some of those Amberjack. There must have been a lack of oxygen in the water because about an hour out, the bait did not survive. We went on out and caught a bunch of Red Snapper on the first hole. We fished several spots and ended up catching a couple of nice Amberjacks. We also lost a few big ones. At least they got a chance to fight them. We had a wonderful day with a wonderful family. We are looking forward to next June so we can do it again.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/26/2008

Will caught his first dorado while trolling home from a six hour red snapper fishing trip. We lost several big fish this afternoon. Red snappers were biting real well considering a pretty strong current. We put the trollers out on the way back in and the king mackerel bit almost every few minutes. We only kept the largest ones and released the rest. A dorado hit one of the trolling lures and Will got him in. Cory and Jerry had a blast catching King Mackerel and Red Snapper all afternoon.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/24/2008

Darryl, Darryl jr., Justin, Brent, Michael and Aladin all enjoyed a morning of deep sea saltwater fishing for red snapper.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/24/2008

Michael and Dawn brought their family down from Missouri to enjoy a family day of deep sea fishing in Orange Beach. Corey, Stephanie and Makenzie had a blast catching Red Snapper and King Mackerel. Makenzie who is the youngest, caught 6 red snappers in a row and had her whole family watching her. It was funny watching her catch them one after another and her dad Michael looked on in awe! Eventually, the others learned how to catch those snappers and everyone caught their share.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/23/2008

Not many people realize it, but its the same drive from Dallas, Tx to Gulf Shores, Al as it is to Corpus. I guess that is why Mike and Annette brought their family to Orange Beach for a vacation. Michael, Destin, Andrea and Candice all spent a laid back six hour fishing trip catching Red Snapper and King Mackerel.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/23/2008

We all have special friends in our lives that we have known since childhood. Well, today was one of those days when lifelong friends come together and spend a day on the water fishing and just enjoying the day remembering what made them friends for life. Special moments are captured by a camera, but the memories will last a lifetime. Derek, Dale, Taylor and Phillip got away for a few hours to go and catch some red snapper. The weather was good but we had to dodge a big thunderstorm that moved South. The fish bit well on our light tackle. These guys had a blast.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/22/2008

What do you get when you get your brother and your best friends together on a charter boat for six hours? You get Tim, Michael, Heath, Brent and Fred having a blast catching some fish. The red snapper bit well today. We had red snappers high in the water column and they were very hungry. When Fred was reeling one up, a monster barracuda fish came up and bit his red snapper in half. All Fred had left was the head of the snapper. He dangled it in the water and the barracuda came up four or five times trying to eat it. That was pretty cool. We really enjoy watching customers have fun and catch some fish.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/20/2008

Scott Henslee, owner of Bowfishing Extreme up in Missouri brought his son Ryan with him down for a family fishing trip. With them came Lynn, Aaron, Holly and Lacey. We headed South from Orange Beach for a six hour deep sea fishing trip. The Red Snapper were trying to eat all afternoon. We caught a lot of fish in a short period of time. The dolphins showed up and pushed the red snappers down to the bottom but we managed to get a mess of them anyway. We finished our six hour trip by trolling for King Mackerel and we did have some luck. We missed a few but managed to get a couple of nice ones. Be sure to shop with Scott at his online store at http://bowfishingextreme.com and he will gladly assist you.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/19/2008

Terry booked this trip and told me he had a bunch of 6 to 8 year-olds kids he wanted to entertain on a family deep sea fishing trip. Orange Beach has long been known for its family environment. We worked our way out to the deep sea and started fishing for red snapper and king mackerel. We ended up catching a mess of red snapper but we pulled up on one reef and Audrey let down her line and caught a 20.6 lb red snapper. What a wonderful day with Terry, Charles, Angelica, Colin, Audrey and Lilly. These kids were the best!

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/18/2008

Today the Washington family came together for a 6 hour deep sea fishing trip. We caught red snapper and king mackerel all morning long. We had a couple break our line but Jarrod caught one nice one that he showed off all day. Jimmy, Andrea, Jarrod, Josh and Uncle Tim are from the Texarakana, Ar. and Dallas, Tx. We really enjoy watching a family fish for red snapper in the gulf shores.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/17/2008

Reggie called me to book their first deep sea fishing trip. He had seen the up to date fishing reports and saw how we handled kids while deep sea fishing. We decided on a four hour trip for the first trip to see how the the kids would do. We headed out about 3:45 this afternoon hoping to get a good king mackerel bite. It was a little slow until we got out to deep seas. When the King Mackerel started hitting, they were on fire. We caught a few nice ones, a couple of big ones but most of all, we enjoyed watching all the kids reel in a few fish.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/16/2008

When you come all the way from Austin, Texas to Gulf Shores there is only a few things to do. You either go sit on the beach and watch the charter boats go out to sea or you can be the one on the charter boat heading out to sea. You have no idea what kind of fun a family can have when you get your family together and take them deep sea fishing in Orange Beach. Jim booked this trip because he knew that we would give him an awesome fishing trip and take care of his daughters every need. Michelle, Jim's better half caught a big Red Snapper herself that weighed over 10 pounds. Jim and Michelle's daughters, Kate, Abbey and Hannah got a chance to catch some quality Red Snapper themselves. We really enjoyed having the Rogan family and watching them catch some Red Snapper. Gulf Shores offers some of the best deep sea fishing for families. We work hard to make sure you have fun and catch fish. Its up to you to hook them, laugh and reel them in.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/14/2008

Chris told us this morning that he wanted to catch a shark. He wanted to feel something big pull on the line. We decided to head out and try to catch some King Mackerel and then if we had time, we would try to catch a nice shark. We pulled some lures and caught some hard tails. We started heading offshore pulling a couple of #3 planers with a cigar minow. We had a hit that was so hard, the rod almost jumped out of its holder. We had hooked something big. Maybe it was an Alabama Yellowfin (jack crevalle) but it was pulling harder than normal. Our light tackle held up for over an hour and we could never gain very much. We could only assume a big monster shark. Its head would shake and try and throw the hook but it couldn't. Chris and Spencer took turns fighting the big shark until both were exhausted. Chris kept fighting the shark until it finally cut the leader. We kept on fishing for King Mackerel. We caught quite a few kings and released them all. We never got the shark up enough to get a picture, but from the past fights, we knew it was larger than 200 lbs.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/10/2008

Oh what a beautiful morning in Orange Beach. The seas were calm as we headed away from the gulf shores to go deep sea fishing for 12 hours. We caught a couple of hard tails for bait and we headed off into the wild blue. On the way out, we ran through our first rain shower of the year. Not much to it. We ran out and started our reef fishing in about 120 feet of water. The Red Snapper were biting ok but the triggerfish began to hit a bit. Most of them were small. We kept moving offshore and we began fishing for Amberjack. The water had a muddy tint to it. It was hardly the ideal blue/green water we are used to. The amberjack bit ok at best. The fish could not see our bait very well I guess. We kept moving and found some vermilion snapper biting and a scamp grouper or two. We went to one spot and dropped some light tackle and hooked a nice almaco jack that fought hard. We had a great day and we really enjoyed fishing with our crew from Tuscaloosa. Michael, Kelly, Wesley, Allen, Richard and Bill I want to say thank you for an entertaining day and allowing Lem and I to serve you!

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/9/2008

Mr. Waters who lives nearby in central Baldwin County brought his Sons and Son-in-laws deep sea fishing trip to catch some Red Snapper today. The seas were pretty calm all day. The water was a muddy green. We fish bite was slow on the first four spots we went to. We finally found some active red snapper and caught a nice mess. The jellyfish are pretty thick offshore and especially on the gulf shores. We really enjoyed watching a family have fun together.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/8/2008

June 2 was unlike any ordinary day on Distraction. We started heading out with Steve Hutton of Chuck Hutton Chevrolet in Memphis, Tn., on a shark hunting adventure. Everyone else in the Gulf was fishing for Red Snapper today. Steve fishes all over the continent but he wanted to do something special. Shark fishing off Orange Beach has been good for many years but the elusive man eaters are hard to track down. We went South of our gulf shores to some large spots that often hold sharks. We went all over the gulf and they were not to be found. We finally stopped on a spot where I thought there might be a last chance to catch a monster shark. We dropped a big chunk of special shark bait and it took about 5 minutes until we hooked up. Steve fought the monster and we got the big Bull Shark to the surface and touched the leader three times. We could not get a picture of the shark because I was down on the deck with Lem and Steve fighting the beast. Steve battled the monster shark for 3 hours and 20 minutes and just as it was getting dark, the line snapped and the shark swam away. We have a legal catch because we grabbed the leader 3 times. I assure you that the shark was a good 9 to 10 feet in length and over 350 lbs. It was probably closer to 400 lbs. Either wasy, we saw it, Steve fought it and the shark swam away to be caught again another day. What an exhausting fight. Be sure and give Steve a call at the Chevy Dealership and as he is selling you a car or truck, ask him to tell you about the fight.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 6/2/2008

Todd, Richard, John Michael brought a fellow fishing enthusiast from the Denver area named Seth, to enjoy a day catching and releasing big fish. These two Alabama Yellowfin or properly called Jack Crevalle hit our high speed trollers today on the way offshore. We thought they were large King Mackerel but after an exhausting fight, we saw we had trophy size Jacks. These things peeled drag and almost emptied a 50 wide penn international reel. We ended up catching and releasing a lot of Amberjack today and hooked a monster shark that after a 20 minute fight our line cut. We had a blast all day!

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/30/2008

Bob brought his son Mike and his friend Andrew in from Canada to enjoy a family outing on the waters off of Orange Beach. Light tackle fishing has always been a challenge in the gulf. As of now, we are the only boat exclusively using light tackle and allowing customers to enjoy catching fish. These black snappers went nuts today and came up to the top. We caught some for lunch and released the rest. Either way, we had a blast seeing so many fish on top.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/28/2008

Ed hunts and fishes all over the world. African Safari's don't even match the kind of light tackle fight he had with our light tackle rod when he hooked this 26.4 lb jack crevalle. It took over 30 minutes to land this monster fish. Backing down toward the gulf shores trying to keep up with this fish was tough but Ed kept working it until we got it in the boat. It's not every day you can land a whopper like this. How much fun is it to use light tackle and catch a big one? Just look at Ed. His family was extremely happy that he caught this hard fighting fish with his family while fishing off of orange beach.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/27/2008

When you drive all the way from Arkansas to Orange Beach, there are only a few things to do to wear you out. One is to play golf and the other is go out and catch grouper. The bite was good all day today. We headed out and hit a few spots and we managed to fish up a couple of nice grouper. Wonderful day was spent with my long time customers from the Russellville.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/26/2008

We arrived at the boat this morning and we noticed our guest had two young men with them. Raymond, Donnie, Lance and Scott brought Carson (7) and Whit (10) with them. These two young men were the life of the day. They worked hard and hung in there most of the day. 12 hours is a long day but it went by very fast. The fish bite was hot until around 1 pm. This family and group of friends caught Amberjack, Almaco Jacks, Mahi-Mahi, Red Snapper, Grouper, Vermilion Snapper and White Snapper. We even caught a triggerfish. We certainly love serving family fishermen and watching their kids catch their first fish.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/24/2008

Today was a wonderful day to go catch an Amberjack on light tackle. Weston shows just one of the Amberjacks he caught today while light tackle fishing. The fish bite was slower than normal early in the day. Don't know if it was the full moon, current, wind or seas. I do know one thing though, the fish bite got better as the day went on. We heard other boats in the area were experiencing the same thing. We moved around to a few of my private reefs and we finally got the fish to spark off and start biting. The light tackle we use made it easy to fish for Amberjack. We ended up catching a mess of red snapper and a triggerfish. Kyle, Gary, Weston, Garrett and Brian were a lot of fun today.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/23/2008

We all wish for that perfect day on the water. Today was that day. It seemed nothing could go wrong. We were under a weak high pressure system which created a choppy sea early in the morning but calmed down by noon. Shane, Tammy, Dusty, Don, Angie and Carla all came down from Tennessee to enjoy a day deep sea fishing. We started fishing about 20 miles offshore and the bite was good. We caught fish almost every drop. As usual, we caught and had to release some nice Red Snapper. The Vermilion Snapper and White Snappers were of average size. We kept moving further out to see what deep water would bring. It was pretty cool when we came up on some nice Amberjack. The dolphins came up and our customers got some good pictures of them diving beside the boat. We moved a little further where Angie caught herself a nice Gag Grouper. Dusty even caught a hard fighting Tiger Shark. Be sure to see our videos on youtube to see that shark fight. The shark cut the line during the fight but we still got a good view of him. All in all, we had a great day fishing.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/17/2008

King Mackerel and Spanish were the target species today. The S.E. wind was blowing at about 15 mph. We had Mr. Buck, Son-in-laws Jeff and Jeremy along with Jeffs sons Joseph and Josh. We wanted to catch a few for supper. We went about a mile or so then started catching Spanish, hard Tails and by the time we got offshore about 5 miles, we started catching some kings. We caught a few and then decided to start releasing the rest of them. The fight is fun especially when they are biting. Everyone did a good job.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/13/2008

The fish were on fire today. It seemed like every time we dropped a bait, we got a hit. The approaching cold front that stretched from South Texas all the way up into Illinois caused a Southeast wind to blow 15 to 20 mph. The seas kicked up to three to four feet and we encountered whitecaps all day. The area of low pressure centered over us has caused the fish to feed. I have seen this for over 30 years. The low pressure brought the fish up in the water and the bite was great. A cold front tends to push the fish down toward the bottom and the bite slows down. We took advantage of the low pressure and the aggressive bite today. The group we had today were from North Alabama. Patrick who is a regular with us brought his friends and fellow co-workers for a deep sea fishing adventure. When we made our first drop, we started catching Red Porgy's. We call them White Snapper. The size ranged from 10 to 14 inches. We also caught Vermilion Snappers. We caught a few Red Snapper but we vented and released them. We decided to go and try to catch a Greater Amberjack. We went to a reef where I thought they would be. It was amazing. The fish were high in the water. We dropped a Diamond Jig down about 40 feet and began jigging. We may have jigged four times and we got our first strike. It was a nice 31" Amberjack. We ended up catching one for each person on the boat. These are one of the hardest fighting fish in the Gulf of Mexico. All of the guys took turns catching one. We really enjoyed fishing with Patrick and his friends.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 5/1/2008

JoJo and Brandi came to Orange Beach for their first Deep Sea fishing trip. They wanted a special trip and one that they could remember. We were on a six hour trip and using light tackle. The seas off Gulf Shores were about 3 foot and rolling from the Southeast. The bite was incredible. We caught a lot of different fish including Amberjack and Red Snapper. JoJo had the most incredible luck of any fisherman. He hooked, fought and caught a Trophy Size Red Snapper. 23 lbs and 32" long. This is a rare treat to catch any Red Snapper over 20 lbs. Jojo decided to have this one replicated. Family light tackle fishing is what we do best. I am glad it worked out for JoJo and Brandi!

Posted by: Captain Troy on 4/26/2008

The weather finally broke enough today to get in a whole day of fishing. We have been experiencing 6' seas Friday and Saturday with a lot of rain. Brian who fishes with us regularly was patient enough with us to wait on the weather to break. Brian wanted to go out and fish deep water for Grouper and Amberjack. We started out this morning heading South out of Orange Beach headed for the deep sea fishing grounds some 20 miles down the road. We rode for about an hour and a half and stopped and tried to catch some vermilion and white snapper. These fish are smaller (usually 10 to 15 inches). They have become a filler or a staple because they are usually plentiful. The biggest problem with fishing for vermilion and white snapper is being patient waiting for the bite to spark off. It is not a given and we have to hit a few different spots before we find some fish that are eager to participate. The secret to getting these fish to fire off and start feeding is having patience and a lot of bait in the water. The more people fishing plus more bait equals more fish. There is also a direct correlation between hours fished, number of people fishing and a large amount of bait and the number of fish caught. Now, fishing for big fish like Grouper and Amberjack is compared to hunting for a trophy deer. You have to be prepared to spend some time fishing for the big ones in order to get one. Brian was very patient and we decided to soak the bait and spend more time per hole/spot to wait on the big ones to bite. We fished a number of spots in 120' to 140' of water. Our best bite for the grouper came in 140' range. We went further Southwest and started fishing. We had a hard time finding them. We moved around to the West and luckily Brian and Lem kept working until we got a couple of nice Almaco Jacks. This was an extra ordinary catch for just one angler. This does not happen all the time. One thing for sure. If you give Distraction a chance, you will have the opportunity to fish for these type of fish and with a little patience, you might get a trophy fish. Pictured are Lem, Brian and Capt. Troy

Posted by: Captain Troy on 4/6/2008

Tom, Eddie, Missy, CH and Nell came down from Prattville, Al to enjoy a nice trip offshore today. The wind was horrible out of the North and the seas were high offshore. We talked and decided that we had an option. We decided to turn our offshore trip into a nearshore trip and take advantage of the shoreline and winds. Near the shore, the seas were not even a factor. We went for about 2 1/2 hours before our first bite. We picked up one nice Redfish. We went about another hour and picked up another nice redfish. We finally saw the birds working and we went toward them. We had three rods go off and start screaming at the same time. It was three Monster Bullreds and boy did it wear the men out. Days like today keep us humble but also help keep us focused on our goal. We made it happen. Customers were happy. An average trip turned into a great fishing trip real fast. Either way, its fishing and we enjoy the challenges and thrills.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 3/24/2008

Matt and his son Nathan came in from Nevada to try and catch a few fish this afternoon. The full moon was a big factor and the bite was slow until later in the day. It was a good trip and we enjoyed seeing a young man catch his first saltwater fish.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 3/22/2008

The Clements family came down to go do a 6 hour fishing trip. We headed offshore to try and catch a few fish. Winds were out of the S.E. and seas were ok. With three generations on board, we stopped and tried to catch some fish for supper. The bite was great all day.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 3/21/2008

Rachael had been planning today's trip since valentines day of this year. She wanted to treat her dad, grandpa, brothers and boyfriend to a day on the water. We headed out trolling this morning with a N.W. wind and the seas were a choppy 3 foot. We were making good time riding with the waves and we made a stop and tried to catch some triggerfish. Rachael caught a nice King Mackerel that twisted and tangled up a few lines but the fighting fish was sure great to watch. We went to another spot and caught nothing. We hit another spot and the triggerfish were on fire. We headed back North and tried to catch a bullred under the working birds but it never developed. We had a blast anyway.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 11/6/2007

We finally had a break in the weather so we could go deep sea fishing. We had originally planned a 12 hour trip today but we ended up getting two days of torrential rain. I think we got over 13 inches. Mr. Eldon Flinn and his sons, Jason, Randall, Lindon, Eli and Joe came down from Ada, Ok. for a fishing adventure out in the gulf of mexico near Orange Beach. The Flinn family has been fishing with me for years and it is always a pleasure to hear from my landlocked friends. We are experiencing a red tide (plankton bloom) out in the water just offshore. The water runoff along with the red tide made fishing interesting. The red tide is blocking the 0/2 in the water and causes respiratory and allergy discomfort. We got far enough offshore to get into a mess of red snappers. The light tackle fishing is amazing. It also gave our customers a lot of fighting action. I really enjoy it when a plan comes together and the fish are biting.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 10/19/2007

Another great day fishing. Saturday was supposed to be 3 to 5 foot seas but as usual, the weatherman missed it. It turned out beautiful and the fish bit really well. We headed out in the Gulf just South of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores for about an hour and a half before we stopped and let they guys try their luck. The air temperature was in the 60's and water temp is right around 80. We had Chris Bowman from Pell City, Al. with his friends Jaime, TJ, Andrew, Sam and Austin on board. A few of them had never experienced a truly amazing light tackle fishing trip. We fished a few spots and the red snapper bite was slow at first. We kept fishing and we hit a spot that was on fire. Snappers came over the rail so fast, Lem, our mate could hardly keep up. Deep sea fishing in Orange Beach has never been better. I get really excited when I see customers smiling, laughing, fishing, grunting and giving each other a high five! We ended the day on the last spot when TJ caught a huge 21.7 lb red snapper and then went right back down and caught a 15 pounder. The amberjack hit hard but were too small to keep. They were a lot of fun catching and releasing. We look forward to seeing these guys again soon.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 10/13/2007

Dawn who is a regular on distraction loves to fish in the cooler weather, booked her annual trip so that they could fish without all the summer heat. Dawn brought her Mom, brother Neal and great friends Shane, Cindy and Dr. Tommy down with her so that they could enjoy the wonderful fall fishing in the Gulf of Mexico off the Gulf Shores of Alabama. We started the day with a good N.E. breeze and the seas were at best a choppy 3 to 4 feet. We checked some artificial reefs that I built last year to see if they were ready. To my surprise, one of them was red hot with 18" red snappers swimming on top of the water. We went to one reef and on the first drop, we hooked three Cobia and another 15 or so cobia came up and were swimming on top all around the boat. They were too small 28" so we released them. They gave our customers one heck of a fight. We caught a good mess of Red Snapper through the day and Tommy even caught a Mahi Mahi. We had a blast catching up on the past year. I really appreciate customers who are loyal and try to do all we can to make sure they have a trip of a lifetime. When you fish on Distraction, you will always be treated like family. I can't wait until next year when Dawn and the gang come back down.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 9/29/2007

Brian from Prairieville, La. brought his men back for a second deep sea fishing adventure this year. His first trip in July was good but they only did a 6 hour trip. After getting hooked on light tackle and the way we fish, this time decided to do a 10 hour trip. Boy did it pay off. We absolutely had one of the most amazing fishing trips we have had in a long time. It seems everywhere we went, the fish were biting. Fall fishing, less pressure, light tackle; who knows but the fish gave it up. Even the big fish bit very well. Brian hooked and caught a 21 lb red snapper. Darrell and Dewayne both caught nice 16 lb snappers and Brad caught a nice amberjack. We absolutely love it when a plan comes together and our customers really enjoy themselves. Fall fishing is almost here and we offer great fishing all the way through December.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 9/2/2007

Derek, Zach, Spencer and Mark joined us today for a wonderful deep sea fishing adventure. These guys from Florence, Al. enjoy fishing fresh water but when they decided to ask Mark what he wanted for his batchelor party, he said "deep sea fishing on the Distraction." We decided to go ahead and run offshore a good bit before we started fishing this morning. The seas were flat calm and remained that way the whole day. The water temp. was 88.7 degrees hot. We began fishing for red snapper and the bite was good. We also caught 2 cobia and released them because they were too small. We caught an almaco jack and a bunch of undersized amberjack that we also released. These guys said the light tackle along with a good fish bite was the key to their happiness. We have been offering these light tackle trips all year and our customers love them. It is amazing what kind of fun you can have just catching fish all day.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 8/25/2007

Micheal and his son Chris came down from Dallas to enjoy a father and son day on the water. We started out trolling and picked up a couple of spanish mackerel off Gulf Shores this morning. We went further offshore and started reef fishing for Red Snapper. We caught a nice mess of red snapper deep sea fishing off Orange Beach and had several big ones break our lines after a short fight. Fall season is just around the corner and those redfish should be arriving soon. We enjoy father and son outings like this because they are great for building fishing memories.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 8/18/2007

Greg brought his friends down from Ohio and Kentucky to the beautiful waters off Gulf Shores do take a 10 hour deep sea fishing adventure. We went out in the gulf and started fishing by trolling for king mackerel right off the beach. We trolled for a couple of hours and had some success and picked up 5 kings. We picked up the reels and ran out to some reefs to fish for red snapper. The bite was slow but we hit several spots and Greg even caught a nice 16 lb red snapper. We were heading to our last spot when I saw some weed lines so we did what we were supposed to do. We checked them for dorado. My hunch was right and we fished for them in the waters under the weeds. The visibility was great and we could see them come out and strike the bait. We had a great day fishing. Orange Beach had some lovely weather today with calm seas which provided an excellent offshore deep sea fishing adventure.

Posted by: Captain Troy on 7/27/2007